Well I think the refinement went into making some of the types of riffs on Ritual more complex. I think the impression from the first track overpowered anything else you heard though tbh. What I noticed is they took away from parts that I found as detrimental in Ritual and added in others that I also saw the same way, as if they tailored it for me to like it better. hahaha.

I don't really see it as advanced in any way beyond "oh look we have more technically able solos now" Because the riffs are that much simpler than Nocturnal. They have more leads now though, albeit some are still fairly simple but effective (The Raven).

I guess I can see what you mean but when it comes to dynamics or changes.. the note movement and the note choice have to be interesting to me, and well in this case, for me, it wasn't lol. I felt like they decided oh hey let's add one of those funky start stop riffs, no don't bother to make it our own. In a way it's like my favorite albums of theirs seem to be more.. dense in some way? where as Ritual feels way thin. lol